Hangout Fest organizers set dates for 2011: May 20-22

View full sizeThousands of people gather to listen to the Black Crowes at the inaugural Hangout Festival in May 2010. (John David Mercer/Press-Register)

Organizers of the Hangout Beach Music and Arts Festival have issued a save-the-date notice, setting May 20-22 for the second annual event.

Other than the dates, the announcement organizers planned to make today is short on details. Ticket prices and the names of performers have not yet been revealed. Nor has an on-sale date been set.

A representative of Music Allies, a company that markets the festival, said organizers plan a Black Friday presale that will allow south Alabama residents to purchase advance tickets at a discount. Details of that sale will be announced early next week, she said.

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving. It’s called that, unofficially, because it’s the traditional kickoff for the Christmas shopping season, when retail businesses typically go from being in the red to being in the black.

Last year’s inaugural event took place May 14-16 on the public beach at the foot of Ala. 59 in Gulf Shores. Conceived and underwritten by real estate developer and business owner Shaul Zislin, it featured an eclectic slate of stars designed to appeal to a young audience.

At the outset, Zislin and other organizers said they wanted to build an event with the status of events such as the Bonnaroo and Coachella festivals, which draw nationwide media attention and ticket sales. But the inaugural festival’s mission was drastically changed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Ticket sales suffered, and attendance never hit the level organizers had hoped for. But the event drew national attention to the beach and provided an opportunity for visitors to see that it wasn’t an oil-stained wasteland.

It also provided something of a logistical template for BP-funded beach concerts featuring Jimmy Buffett, Bon Jovi and Brad Paisley that took place at the same site later in the year.

In September, Gulf Shores gave organizers a conditional permit to hold the festival every May for the next five years.

The Music Allies publicist said some acts have been booked, but the date for a general announcement of performers had not yet been set.

The publicist said organizers planned a bigger, better festival with “new amenities” that would impress patrons.